San Fran archdiocese apologizes for ‘inhumane’ sprinklers that douse homeless

Sprinklers at St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco, California drench the homeless people who sleep in its doorways throughout the night. After facing backlash for its ‘inhumane’ treatment, the city’s archdiocese has apologized for the system.

St. Mary’s Cathedral, the seat of the Archdiocese of San
Francisco, installed the sprinkler system about two years ago,
after learning “from city resources” that similar
systems are “commonly used” in the Financial District,
the archdiocese said in a
statement.

“This sprinkler system in alcoves near our back doorways was
installed... as a safety, security and cleanliness measure to
avoid the situation where needles, feces and other dangerous
items were regularly being left in these hidden doorways,”
the church said.

“The problem was particularly dangerous because students and
elderly people regularly pass these locations on their way to
school and mass every day.”

The sprinklers are located in a hole in the ceiling about 30 feet
above the steps. The water rains down simultaneously from all
four doorways for about 75 seconds, every 30 to 60 minutes,
beginning before sunset and recurring throughout the night, KCBS
reported.

The church said that they informed those homeless people who
regularly sleep in the cathedral’s doorways about the sprinklers,
hoping to relocate them to other areas of the building that are
“protected and safer.”

The archdiocese noted that it is “the largest supporter of
services for the homeless in San Francisco,” and that St.
Mary’s Cathedral “does more than any other Catholic
church.”

But the homeless people who frequent the building say it isn’t as
welcoming to them as the archdiocese says.

“They actually have signs in there that say, ‘No
Trespassing'," a homeless man named Robert told KCBS.

There are no signs that warn the homeless about the sprinklers,
and the water is prone to drenching them and their belongings.

“We’re going to be wet there all night, so hypothermia, cold,
all that other stuff could set in. Keeping the church clean, but
it could make people sick,” Robert said.

But the water doesn’t really clean the area, according to KCBS.
There are syringes, cigarette butts, soggy clothing and
cardboard. There is no drainage system. Water pools accumulate on
the steps and sidewalks.

“Hosing us down like that was totally wrong, telling us we
were not blessed, that we were the devil’s child,” Steve
Johnson, 54, who bunked down in nearby Jefferson Square after
being chased out by the sprinklers, told the San Francisco
Chronicle. “This is not caring from the church.”

Bishop of St. Mary's Cathedral admits he knew water was soaking
homeless at night, but did nothing to stop it. "I was
preoccupied."

Neighbors of the building and advocates for the homeless called
the system shocking and inhumane.

One neighbor who witnessed the drenching told KCBS, “I was
just shocked, one because it’s inhumane to treat people that way.
The second thing is that we are in this terrible drought.”

Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on
Homeless said, “It’s very shocking, and very inhumane.
There’s not really another way to describe it. Certainly not
formed on the basis of Catholic teachings.”

The archdiocese apologized for the sprinkler system on Wednesday,
and didn’t turn the spouts on that night.

“We are sorry that our intentions have been misunderstood and
recognize that the method used was ill-­conceived. It actually
has had the opposite effect from what it was intended to do, and
for this we are very sorry,” the church said.

“The problem is persistent,” church spokesman Larry
Kamer told the Chronicle. “The first priority today was to
turn the sprinklers off. But now we’ll have to figure out what to
do next.”

Paul Boden, organizing director of the Western Regional Advocacy
Project, which advocates for homeless people, suggested to the
Chronicle that the church hire homeless people to clean the mess
left by those who spend the night in St. Mary’s doorways.

The system itself may be illegal as well, the archdiocese said,
because it required a permit ‒ which the church did not apply for
or receive ‒ and because it may violate the city’s water use
laws. The San Francisco Department of Building Inspection issued
a notice of violation for “the un-permitted downspout”
after the department’s chief plumbing inspector visited the
building on Tuesday, department spokeswoman Lily Madjus told the
Washington Post in an email.

The archdiocese has filed a permit to remove the system, which it
must do within 15 days, Madjus said. The cathedral has already
started to remove the sprinklers, the archdiocese said.

The city’s Roman Catholic churches have been under fire of late
for an attempt to force their schoolteachers to agree to
guidelines rejecting homosexual relations, the use of
contraception and other “gravely evil” behavior, the Chronicle
reported.